From hobnobbing with the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy and Mick Jagger, the reclusive author-turned-politician has come a long way, says Anita Katiyal
Indicating he was ready to don any role in the Congress after the 2014 general elections, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said he will be "very happy" to work under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi.
'The BJP must realise that a resurgent Rahul Gandhi will take the battle straight into its camp.' 'He is not going to be held back by the misdeeds of UPA 1 and 2, so there is no point harping on them,' says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Veteran scientist P M Bhargava will return the awards he received from the government of India to protest against "the government's attack on rationalism, reasoning and science."
What kind of chowkidari is Narendra Modi doing, asks Rahul.
'You won't find such an apathetic indecisive party in the world.'
The now active member of the Janata Dal-United has been approached by Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and Janata Dal-Secular in Karnataka to help them in the upcoming elections, reports Satyavrat Mishra.
On a day Narendra Modi attacked the United Progressive Alliance government for its "mis-governance", Congress chief Sonia Gandhi hit back accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of hatching conspiracies before elections and misleading people in its hunger for power.
The NDA govt told SC that it would withdraw the appeal filed by the erstwhile UPA govt challenging the Allahabad HC verdict holding the AMU as non-minority institution.
This is the first meeting chaired by Gandhi after relinquishing the post of Congress president last year.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was on Monday released from Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi, two-and-a-half months after he was convicted in a fodder scam case.
Without naming P Chidambaram, he charged the then home minister with giving "colour" to terrorism by coining the term 'saffron terror'.
In a note to his students titled 'In a Background of Elections - The Development Debate', Dr Frazer Mascarenhas, principal of Mumbai's St Xavier's College, slams Narendra Modi's Gujarat and is in all praise of United Progressive Alliance's Rojgar Yojana and the Food Security Act
The crisis staring at the 13-month old government after over a dozen MLAs of the ruling combine quit on Saturday deepened with two Ministers and Independent MLAs -- H Nagesh and R Shankar -- resigning from the ministry and withdrawing their support to the coalition.
'KCR's plan for the future is three-pronged. He wants to see a non-Congress, non-BJP government at the Centre in 2019 so that he can become the Union minister for home or defence,' says R Rajagopalan.
n an exclusive interview with Rediff.com's Anita Katyal, Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmad analysed the political scenario in his home-state Bihar, admitting that political equations have changed after the Bharatiya Janata Party forged alliances with Ram Vilas Paswan and Upendra Kushwaha.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi slammed PM Narendra Modi and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.
'The BJP is no longer the BJP. It has become the Bharatiya Janata Poaching Party.' 'They talk of black money and here they are ready to pay Rs 100 crore to MLAs.'
'Whatever the BJP tries to do, they will not be able to make a big mark in Kerala.'
Slamming as "fascist" Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's pitch for a "Congress Mukt Bharat", Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Monday reached out to all non-BJP parties on the plank of secularism.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said that she would not allow the soil of her country to be used for any kind of extremism and hoped that India would also reciprocate on the matter.
Over 100 Opposition members of Parliament led by Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday marched from Parliament to the Rashtrapati Bhawan
Shah also said that the parties in power in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka were answerable for the incidents cited by protesting writers.
Sonia Gandhi spends just 30 minutes in Kanyakumari to promote 39 candidates in Tamil Nadu. A Ganesh Nadar listens in.
'I told him when I started my political career seven decades ago he was not even born. His political activities, the protests he organises and the way he fights the biggest corporate of India, the Ambanis, give hope to all people who are progressive. My desire is that such a party must grow, and I wished him all success for its growth.' V S Achuthanandan, the senior-most Communist in India, tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier why he turned down Arvind Kejriwal's invitation to join the Aam Aadmi Party.
Bharatiya Janata Party hit back on at Bihar Chief Minister's barbs at his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi and citing his elevation as the party's poll panel chief to part ways with the NDA saying that Nitish Kumar was down with 'NaMonia'.
The Congress's share has almost halved, down from 12 in 2014 to six now.
'If the Congress is to challenge the NDA government, Rahul Gandhi will have to shed his indifference to Parliament, become more visible and vocal and, essentially, lead from the front,' says Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal.
If the BJP stays away from controversial issues like the idea of a Hindu state, treats minorities equally, then there is no reason why the NCP should not consider aligning with them, National Secretary of the Nationalist Congress Party and Rajya Sabha member Majeed Memon tells Kavita Chowdhury
As the Lok Sabha election draw closer, a weary Congress is gradually getting reconciled to the idea of a stint in the opposition even though its strategists are convinced that the party will win up to 140 seats. Anita Katyal reports.
Accusing Narendra Modi of being "desperate" to become prime minister, the Congress on Sunday said it will remain a "pipe-dream" and the "divisive" leader's nomination will help the United Progressive Alliance to return to power for a third term.
The Congress resisted all temptation to comment on senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani's decision to step down from key party posts on Monday, but there was a palpable sense of relief that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's elevation had not been a smooth affair and had, in fact, triggered a major storm in the opposition camp, feels Anita Katyal.
The by-elections are seen as a prestigious popularity test for the ruling Congress-Janata Dal-Secular coalition, as the outcome is expected to have a bearing on the state's political scene.
'If the BJP thinks it is going to overnight transform Bengal into Madhya Pradesh, sorry, that's not going to happen because I have faith in our ethos and culture.'
Marandi was the chief minister of Jharkhand from November 2000 to March 2003.
'It's like the BJP is mocking people: Do what you want, we'll still win.'
Sonia Gandhi was on Saturday re-elected chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party and asked party men not to bicker in public amid a fierce blame game in the party over its worst electoral defeat which has seen Team Rahul Gandhi coming under attack from a number of leaders.
If Uddhav continues in this mode as a serious-minded, capable leader with his hands firmly on the steering wheel, and succeeds in enabling Maharashtra weather the current storm, there is every possibility of his emergence as a leader who will be seen as someone who is ready to play a larger role, observes Amulya Ganguli.
Mallikarjun Kharge may be a respected politician and a loyal Congressman, but he is not a great orator nor does he have exceptional debating skills. Vicky Nanjappa/Rediff.com reports
For the third front to become a reality, it needs a party that has a pan-India presence and wins more Lok Sabha seats than all other parties in the front, say experts.
